Lead Planner/ Scheduler - Capital Projects (Mining)

Lead Scheduler / Lead Planner – Mining Projects (Canada-wide, French Required)

Work arrangement: Independent Contractor

• Travel: Regular travel to mine sites (e.g., Abitibi, Detour Lake, Nunavut, other Canadian sites); mix of site-based work and remote/home office

Language

• Fluent French required , advanced English strongly preferred
• Ability to work comfortably in French-speaking site environments and English-speaking head office settings

About the Role

We are looking for a Lead Scheduler / Lead Planner to support large-scale mining and processing plant projects across Canada. This role is responsible for building, validating, and maintaining high‑quality project schedules in Primavera P6 , often in environments where engineering is incomplete and the planner must be creative, autonomous, and constructability-minded .

You will work closely with project controls, engineering, procurement, and construction teams to ensure that schedules are realistic, logic‑driven, and aligned with cost, procurement, and execution strategies. You will also provide mentorship and oversight to site planners and project teams to maintain schedule standards across multiple projects.

Key Responsibilities

1. Schedule Development & Management

• Develop and maintain integrated project schedules in Primavera P6 for large mining projects (Greenfield, Brownfield, expansions).
• Build schedules with limited initial engineering data , using experience and constructability knowledge to infer required activities (civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, commissioning).
• Establish and maintain baselines , including recovery and revised schedules as required.
• Coordinate and integrate schedules with engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning work streams.

2. Schedule Quality & Methodology

• Apply a formal schedule quality framework (e.g., 14‑point style checks) to all schedules, including:
• 100% logical linking of activities (no open ends)
• Controlled and limited use of constraints
• Avoidance of negative lags and inappropriate lags
• Reasonable activity durations and float levels
• Proper use of milestones vs. tasks
• Validate and continuously test the critical path to ensure it reflects real project drivers.
• Ensure resource-loaded schedules are consistent with project execution strategies.

3. Integration with Cost, Procurement & Contractors

• Link schedules to work packages, contracts, and purchase orders (contractor and supplier work packages).
• Review and integrate contractor schedules into the master schedule, challenging durations, logic, and staffing where necessary.
• Support procurement planning by sequencing long-lead items and material deliveries in alignment with site construction needs.

4. Progress, Reporting & Earned Value

• Define and apply rules of credit and deliverable-based progress measurement for engineering, procurement, and construction.
• Support and/or lead Earned Value Management (EVM) from a scheduling perspective (planned value, earned value, schedule performance).
• Produce S‑curves, manpower curves, and key schedule KPIs (e.g., SPI, critical path slippage) in collaboration with cost control.
• Work with reporting tools (e.g., Excel, Power BI ) to transform schedule data into clear dashboards and management reports.

5. Governance, Procedures & Mentoring

• Apply and improve standard planning/scheduling procedures , templates, and coding structures (WBS, activity codes, calendars, filters).
• Train, coach, and support site and project planners to ensure consistent application of standards and high schedule quality.
• Lead or contribute to schedule reviews and risk sessions with project management and functional leads.

Qualifications & Experience

Must-Have

• 8–10+ years of experience in project planning / scheduling , including at least 5+ years with Primavera P6 .
• Significant experience in mining, heavy industrial, or large EPC/EPCM projects (processing plants, conveyors, crushers, mills, large infrastructure).
• Demonstrated ability to build detailed schedules from minimal initial information , not just maintain existing schedules.
• Proven track record applying rigorous schedule quality checks (logic, constraints, lags, float, resourcing, critical path testing).
• Experience integrating engineering, procurement, and construction into a single master schedule.
• Practical understanding of earned value, rules of credit, S‑curves, and manpower curves .
• Fluent French and strong spoken/written English .
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly to remote mine sites (camp/work rotation or regular weekly travel as required).

Nice-to-Have

• Experience with Greenfield mining projects and remote northern work environments.
• Exposure to tools like Power BI or similar analytics platforms linked to schedule/cost data.
• Experience developing or implementing planning/scheduling procedures and training materials .
• Background in engineering, construction management, or project controls (e.g., industrial, mechanical, civil, electrical).
• Professional certifications in project controls / scheduling (e.g., PMI-SP, AACEI) are an asset.

Personal Profile

• Highly autonomous and comfortable working with incomplete information .
• Strong constructability mindset : can translate equipment and layout (e.g., conveyors, tanks, buildings) into concrete activities and sequences.
• Comfortable challenging engineers, contractors, and managers on dates, durations, and logic while maintaining strong relationships.
• Methodical and detail-oriented, with a structured approach to schedule quality and governance.
• Strong communicator, able to lead discussions in French on site and interface in English with head office and external partners.

*Know someone who could be a great fit? Ask us about our referral program!*